The Program of the Middle East Crisis Committee

1. The Middle East Crisis Committee is part of the general Peace Movement and seeks peace and justice for the peoples of the Middle East.

2. Peace and justice must be based on respect for human rights as defined by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

3. We oppose and call for the immediate removal of foreign troops and mercenaries in the following situations:
*a) US and Western forces in Iraq and the Middle East
*b) Israeli forces in the territories occupied since 1967
*c) Syrian troops from Lebanon

4. MECC supports reparations and restitutions for peoples in the Middle East to redress decades of sanctions, bombing, invasions and occupation in particular:
*a) US led sanctions, war and occupation of Iraq
*b) Israeli expulsion, dispossession and occupation in Palestine

5. For a durable and just peace in Israel/Palestine:
*a) We condemn deliberate attacks on civilians as illegal, savage, counterproductive and self-defiling.
*b) We say that the racism and discrimination inherent in an exclusive Jewish state in Israel/Palestine amounts to an apartheid system. This system must be dismantled.
*c) We reject the notion of peace through separation in Palestine/Israel. Segregation must give way to integration.
*d) We call for full equality for Palestinians and other Arabs living in Israel. We support the equalization of the terms of citizenship for all Israelis.
*e) We support secular societies throughout the Middle East and oppose the many aspects of Israeli society that are for “Jews only”.
*f) We condemn all racism and racist practices, in particular, hatred directed against Jews, Palestinians and other Arabs.
*g). We work for the suspension of all military and economic aid to the Israeli government.
6. Palestinian refugees have a right to return to their homes throughout all of Israel/Palestine.

7. MECC Supports the one democratic state solution for the Palestine/Israel conflict.